Thursday, November 26, 2015

Why Was the Narrow Neck Strategic? – Part I

A
reader sent in a lengthy article by George Potter about the Narrow Neck of Land
and requested we respond to his views. We are doing so in this post. Potter: “Along the border that
separated the Book of Mormon land northward from the land southward and the
land of Bountiful was a feature referred to as a “small neck of land.”

Response: Mormon
referred to this neck as both a small neck (Alma 22:32) and a narrow neck (Alma
63:5). Since he used both these terms, then we should put them together to
describe:1. Neck: Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language describes
a neck of land as “a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts”2. Small: 1828
dictionary: “Slender, thin, of little diameter” and “little in size”3. Narrow: 1828
dictionary: “Of little breadth, not wide or broad, of little extent, very
limited” and “a narrow passage through a mountain, or a narrow channel of water
between seas”Thus, Mormon is
describing a section of land that is small (not long) and narrow (not wide)
between two larger land masses. Elsewhere, we find that this narrow neck is the
only connection link or land between the Land
Northward and the Land Southward of the Land of Promise, i.e., “there being a
small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma
22:32).We need to keep in mind
that Mormon’s description of this small neck in Alma 22:32 is specific and
requires no additional knowledge or information to describe its overall land
mass. To add to or subtract from is merely an attempt to change or alter the
scriptural meaning of Mormon’s specific description (that does not mean that
Mormon elsewhere does not give us more information about how this neck fit into
the Nephite plans and the overall Land of Promise).Potter: “This feature is one of the most
misunderstood features of Book of Mormon geography. As a result, there have
developed over time many popular misconceptions about its nature and location.
As with all the Book of Mormon sites, we have very limited information
available to identify it.”Response: While it is
true that many theorists have stated misconceptions about its nature and
location, we have sufficient information from Mormon to describe its
appearance, location and purpose Potter: “Readers of the Book of Mormon usually assume
that the “narrow neck of land” defines a geographical feature, but a closer
examination of its context in the Book of Mormon shows that it describes an
important military fortification that must be defended to stop a Lamanite
invasion.”Response: Here is where
Potter goes astray in his thinking. There is no assumption about the small or
narrow neck being a geographical feature—Mormon carefully and succinctly
describes it as such: a narrow neck of land separating the Land Northward from
the Land Southward (Alma 22:32). In fact, he makes it quite clear that “the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were
nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land
northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32).

An
example of an island with two major land masses and a narrow neck of land in
between. The circle in the southern land shows “nearly surrounded by water”
except for the narrow neck of land as Mormon describesObviously it is a geographical feature—it is a
small neck of land that exists between two larger land masses, and so far as
the entire scriptural record states, is the only parcel of land lying between
the Land Northward and the Land Southward. That is geographical! Now, we can go
on to suggest, as Potter states, that it held an important and strategic
position to the Nephites, but not for the reason Potter states. There was no
likelihood that the Lamanites could have invaded the Nephite territory by
coming through or using the narrow neck of land. After all, it was to the far
north of the Land of Nephi that the Lamanites controlled and inhabited. In
fact, the entire Land of Zarahemla and the Land of Bountiful lay between the
Land of Nephi and the narrow neck of land (Alma 22:27-32), and Mormon makes
this quite clear when he said, “And it came to pass that the Nephites had
inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus
the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south,
that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might
not overrun the land northward” (Alma 22:33, emphasis mine).The fear was not of an invasion as Potter claims,
but that somehow the Lamanites (or the defector Morianton or others unfriendly to the
Nephites) might get through the narrow neck into the Land Northward and in
someway make an alliance with the Lamanites, to have an attacking force on the
north while the Lamanites had their attacking force on the south of the Nephite
lands. However, throughout the scriptural record until the last final series of
battles in the third century A.D., the Nephites had restricted the Lamanites
from gaining ground in the Land of Zarahemla or the Land of Bountiful. Of this,
Mormon said, “Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in
the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the
Nephites -- as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their
afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they
might flee, according to their desires” (Alma 22:34).

Showing how the narrow neck of land, about 26 miles
across, could be defended against a pursuing army, allowing the Nephites to
escape into the Land Northward, if that was their desireThis country to which they could flee, obviously,
is the entire Land Northward, which lay beyond or to the north of the narrow
neck of land. Not until the final battles, did the Lamanites ever gain access
to the Land Northward. In fact, in 350 A.D., after the Lamanites had overrun
the Land of Zarahemla and the Land of Bountiful, they entered into a treaty
(Mormon 2:28) with Mormon and the Nephites in which the narrow neck of land
became the new southern boundary of the Nephite people (Mormon 2:29) and the
Lamanites controlled everything south of that.Potter: “John Sorenson notes of the narrow neck of
land: “Mormon was speaking of a fortified line of defense.”Response: The narrow
neck of land was not a line of defense. It was simply a piece of land between
the Land Northward and the Land Southward. However, because of its narrow and
small size, it served as a line of defense, and was easily defended by the
Nephites. As an example, when Morianton fled northward with his rebellious
followers, Moroni feared he would gain the land Northward and set up a “second
front” against the Nephites. While the narrow neck at that time may not have
been guarded, or at least sufficiently, to withstand an attack, he dispatched
Teancum with an army to “head them by the narrow pass, which led by the sea
into the land northward” (Alma 50:34).

The mistake so many
people make is to try and separate this narrow passage from the narrow neck of
land; however, both of them led from the Land of Bountiful into the Land
Northward—the narrow neck being the only parcel or tract of land between the two larger land
masses. In fact, Mormon makes this clear when he shows in this instance with
Teancom and Morianton that the Land of Bountiful was to the north, then the
narrow neck and passage, and then the Land of Desolation, which is in the Land
Northward (Alma 50:32-34, compare with Alma 22:32).(See the next post, “Why Was the Narrow Neck Strategic? – PtII,” to
see not only why the narrow neck was strategic, but also to see how theorists
get so many wrong ideas about Mormon’s many descriptions when they try to alter
or change his meanings that are clearly stated in his writing)